Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2010-11: Luc Snuggerud played for the Eden Prairie bantam A team that captured the Minnesota state championship. Snuggerud played for the Section 6 High Performance 16s in April. Snuggerud’s uncle, Dave Snuggerud, is a former NHL player.

2011-12: Snuggerud played for Team Southwest in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League in the fall before skating for defending state Class AA champion Eden Prairie as a sophomore. He scored 5 goals with 15 assists and 14 penalty minutes in 26 high school games. Eden Prairie was upset by Robbinsdale Armstrong in the quarterfinals of the Section 6AA tournament. Snuggerud scored 1 goal with 13 assists in 21 games for Team Southwest. He was selected by Muskegon in the 16th round (227th overall) of the 2012 USHL Entry Draft.

2012-13: Snuggerud was Eden Prairie’s third-leading scorer as a defenseman in his junior season. He played for Team Southeast in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League prior to the high school season and in October he committed to playing college hockey at Nebraska-Omaha in 2014-15. Snuggerud scored 5 goals with 37 assists and 26 penalty minutes in 27 games for Eden Prairie. The Eagles lost to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Section 6AA semifinals.

2013-14: Snuggerud played for Muskegon and Omaha in the USHL and received the Reed Larson award as the top senior defenseman in Minnesota high school hockey. In three games with the Lumberjacks he scored 1 goal with 2 assists and was plus-3. Snuggerud and Eden Prairie teammate Steve Spinner were acquired by Omaha in a February trade; joining the Lancers following the high school season. He had 2 assists and was +2 with 6 penalty minutes in four regular season games and in two playoff contests was minus-1 with 1 assist and 2 penalty minutes. A team captain for Eden Prairie, the Section 6AA champion and fourth-place team in the Minnesota AA tournament, Snuggerud scored 9 goals with 39 assists and 21 penalty minutes in 31 games. He was ranked 42nd amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings prior to the 2014 NHL Draft and was selected by Chicago in the fifth round (141st overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft.

2014-15: Snuggerud stepped directly into a prominent role for Nebraska-Omaha as a freshman, skating in all 39 games for the Mavericks. He scored 2 goals with 14 assists and was -3 with 18 penalty minutes. Nebraska-Omaha finished third in the NCHC, receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Midwest Regional after being swept by St. Cloud Staet in the NCHC quarterfinals. The Mavericks defeated Harvard (4-1) and RIT (4-0) to win the Midwest Regional before falling 4-1 to eventual national champion Providence in the Frozen Four semifinals.

Talent Analysis

Snuggerud is an offensive-minded defenseman who skates well and can distribute the puck on the rush.
Like New York Islanders' defenseman Nick Leddy, he played for Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota before playing college hockey and plays a similar style. As with many young defenders, he is at his best when joining the attack or contributing on the power play. He should continue to refine the defensive areas of his game and add the size and strength necessary to play at the pro level during his college career.

Future

Snuggerud is in his sophomore season at Nebraska-Omaha in 2015-16 and will look to build on the impressive freshman campaign he had last year. Comfortable moving the puck and supporting the play, he should continue to refine his positional play and become more consistent in his own end of the ice has he gains experience with the Mavericks. Long-term he projects as a sound second or third pairing defenseman with the ability to contribute on the power play.

To say the Chicago Blackhawks have a fondness for developing players in Europe and at the collegiate level is an understatement. 23 prospects laced up either overseas or in college for the 2015-16 season, and a handful had standout seasons for their respective teams. This route of developing talent has become a recent trend in Chicago, with Jonathan Toews, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Teuvo Teravainen being just a few success stories for the Blackhawks. Read more»

Photo: Nick Schmaltz was one of the top playmakers in the 2016 World Juniors, helped lead North Dakota to the NCAA Frozen Four, and becomes the top Blackhawks prospect (courtesy of Richard T. Gagnon/Getty Images)

Photo: Teuvo Teravainen is soon to graduate from prospect status and his playoff performance is a major reason some remain bullish on the Blackhawks (courtesy of Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)

The 2015-16 season is one of uncertainty for the Chicago Blackhawks. The harsh realities of the salary-cap era were quite evident during the offseason. Brandon Saad (CBJ), Patrick Sharp (DAL), Antti Raanta (NYR), Stephen Johns (DAL), Michael Paliotta (CBJ) and Alex Broadhurst (CBJ) were all parts of trades meant to add flexibility as well as talent to the organization. Furthermore, the likes of Brad Richards, Johnny Oduya and Antoine Vermette have found new teams through the free agency market. In other words, this year’s Blackhawks squad will look different than the 2015 Stanley Cup Champions we saw in June.

Photo: Andrew Agozzino scored 58 points in 71 games during his first season as an alternate captain with the Lake Erie Monsters. (Courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

The 2014-15 regular season has come to a close. For our final month of On the Rush, we have a mixture of both season-long leaders and trailers, as well as a few players who either slumped or stood up during a crucial time—the final stretch. With the playoffs wrapping up for most leagues around the world and the NHL playoffs getting ready to kick into gear, take a look at this month’s group. Read more»

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman has seen the enormous potential in scouting both European and collegiate players, and nothing shows this more than his recent draft history. In the last two drafts, 12 of Bowman’s 17 selections would skate in either the NCAA or Europe the very next season. There’s clearly no rush to get these young guns to the NHL just yet, so allowing these prospects to perfect their game in their respective leagues has been crucial for their development. Several Blackhawks prospects will also have a chance for an NCAA Championship at the 2015 Frozen Four as well.